Review

Review Summary: A great technical metalcore album from a band that should be remembered.

Into The Moat is a technical metalcore band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. If you have listened to technical metalcore in the past 5 years it is likely you have heard of them. Their Metalblade debut 'The Design' was well received by metal heads at the time but it did not have a timeless quality that metalcore albums at the turn of the century had. They've released one other album since then called "The Campaign" which featured a huge change in style. The album was a take on dark-jazz fused with death metal and classical influenced composition. The album flew largely under the radar without much promotion and a 3-year hiatus that lead up to the album. Now lets get back to Into The Moat's humble beginnings. The band started as a one-man project by drummer Matt Grossman who played all the instruments on the first demo. Other members joined and played as a band for a year before they released their first EP: “The Means By Which The End Is Justified”.

The album is fusion of death metal and mathcore with hints of classical and jazz composition throughout. The second the album starts you can see that every musician in this band is very talented. Each instrument tears away with tons of technical flourishes and keen taste for catchy melodies. They perfectly combine Major Key melodies with Harmonic Minor metalcore dissonance. “Battle Spawned Lullabies” shows you this right as the mid-section goes from a catchy Spanish sounding riff that shape shifts into a pristine jazz interlude, of course with a sick breakdown to end the song. They are very good at structuring metalcore with breakdowns. The midsections of their songs show off how well they can change things up and create tension or a build section to close a song. “A Settling Of Ways” starts with a quick acoustic strumming part, which mimics the climax of the song; which is a creative writing method used by composers. This turns into some of the most tasteful shredding combined with creative non-repetitive breakdowns. The 1st breakdown is divided with a quick fill where the bass player sweeps picks away alone just before the breakdown resumes. Breakdowns work on this album because they are a part of the music that fits and are never the main highlight or a lazy lack of creativity. Tell me the breakdown that ends the album on ‘Century I’ sucks, it closes the album perfectly; As the army that came through your town leaving it ruins fades into the distance. Each song is similar in structure but each can easily stand on it’s own because of the signature riffs given to each song. ‘Demise’ takes a simple dissonant riff played towards the beginning and uses much of the 1st half of the song displaying variations of it. Then tasty jazz strumming leads up to a mess of chaotic riffage and quick breakdowns that ends the song.

Earl Ruwell, who has an excellent mid-range rasp, does the screaming on this album. He doesn’t have any particular highlights throughout the album but he accents the music well with many words of well… war. He takes on the persona of soldiers during the Middle Ages in England. He speaks of the experiences these soldiers have during war. Such as being a wounded prisoner who wishes revenge upon his foes in ‘A Settling of Ways’, “I lay my sword upon the table and ask for blood. I place a plague on all your houses, my half is dead”. They pull this concept off well. The music makes you feel like you are in the heat of an epic battle, where you could die at any moment. This is the best Into The Moat album in my opinion. Other than some of the compositions on ‘The Campaign’, this short album is the one that should be remembered.

Yeah century I into century II is beast, how century I fades out and century II fades in with the same chug part, it's so awesome how they did that. Plus this album has 'A Settling of Ways' my personal favorite into the moat song.

I'm so glad they re-mastered this album and redid all the guitar and bass parts. Finally has that low and thickness it need, the breakdowns pummel so much harder. I'm also pumped that they're still a band and planing to write some new material soon, would love to hear another album from this band.